Senate navigates complex rules to pass government shutdown spending bill

The Senate did not delay final passage of the temporary spending bill that would end the government shutdown.

Ah, you might think this is it. Especially after the Senate broke a filibuster on the bill just before 11pm ET Sunday night. So why didn’t the Senate immediately move on to the final decision? After all, the plan had to go to the Parliament. Flight delays were increasing. Federal workers were at the end of their rope without getting paid. SNAP benefits were unclear. So why not speed this up?

Actually, the situation is more complicated than that. And believe it or not, the Senate kind of stepped it up.

At least as far as the Senate is concerned.

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There were several Senate caucuses last Sunday that were not ready to vote immediately to end the shutdown. It was clear that the Senate would eventually pass the bill that would fund the government. This is to say nothing of the worsening effects of the shutdown on an almost hourly basis.

You. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Republican to break away from his party and vote no in a test vote to break the filibuster on the deal to reopen the government. Paul voted no because he wanted changes to the hemp bill.

The measure prevents the “unregulated sale” of “intoxicating cannabis-based” products at gas stations and small retailers. Protects the sale of non-intoxicating CBD in other hemp-related products.

So, if the Senate took 60 votes to break the filibuster on Sunday night and only needed 51 votes to pass the bill, why was the Senate blocked by Paul and even others?

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., told reporters he is one senator seeking a vote on an amendment that would ensure members’ salaries are held in escrow during future government shutdowns. This would be in addition to Paul asking for votes on a change regarding hemp policy.

Paul’s request was known in advance. But this additional question underscores the precarious balance of any unanimous consent agreement in the Senate. When one senator gets something, others are likely to want things for themselves, too.

Paul told reporters that he believed the leadership would be happy to vote for him. But Paul said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., briefly blocked that.

Meanwhile, Mullin said Democrats have been “quiet on the radio” about whether they are willing to give back debate time to speed up consideration of the bill. Any senator could drag out this process for days, so their cooperation will be crucial in ending the shutdown quickly.

It’s about speed.

Fasten your seatbelts for the next episode. It gets complicated.

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Sunday night’s vote was about breaking the filibuster to move on to the original spending measure passed by the House in September. 60 years were needed for this.

That’s why the Senate broke a filibuster to begin work on the bill. This is everything.

As a rule, the Senate can end 30 hours of debate after breaking the filibuster, unless Paul gives in. This would take us to a small procedural vote to pass the bill at dawn last Tuesday morning.

That is, unless there’s an agreement with Paul, or other Democratic senators for that matter, to speed things up.

But wait. There is more.

Complaints about hemp provisions by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., threatened to block the shutdown. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The intention of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R.S.D., — and this was done Sunday with a wink and a nod to reach an agreement — was that he would introduce what is called a “replacement” amendment. A replacement would remove the House’s old bill text and replace it with the new spending package.

But since this is a substitute amendment, Thune must “file a chokehold” to break the filibuster on this one. By rule, Thune couldn’t do that until last Tuesday. Cloture petitions require a day to pass before ripening. That means the Senate couldn’t vote to break the filibuster on a replacement bill (i.e., the new bill) until last Thursday. I repeat, 60 years are needed for this. And if there’s no deal, the Senate could lose another hour before voting yes or no on the replacement name. It would probably be on Friday.

But we’re not done yet.

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If the Senate had passed the new text on Friday, then Thune would have had to sign the core bill again, wait a day (Saturday), and then vote to break the filibuster on it on Sunday (also needing 60 votes).

That scenario would mean the Senate would finally pass the renewed spending bill on Monday. And that means the House won’t be able to take up the bill until next Tuesday or Wednesday.

So this could actually extend the government shutdown.

It was in Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (R.S.D.) interest to reach an agreement with Paul to speed things along. (Nathan Posner/Anatolia via Getty Images)

However, this would probably never happen. This is just doing things by the book.

But it was also in Thune’s interest to make a deal with Paul to speed things up. Otherwise, Paul or the Democrats who oppose the bill could have slowed things down and extended the shutdown.

But think about this for a moment; If the left really wants Democrats to stand and fight, there is a group of core Democrats who are upset that their party is softening. However, they still had the opportunity to extend the closure and chose not to do so. There were also a small number of Democrats who were more than happy to see others vote to open the government; whether they want to do it or not to vote yes. They relied on the yes votes or courage of their colleagues.

And Paul was upset about the hemp supply.

“It’s a really insulting thing,” Paul said of the hemp issue. “I’m not trying to delay things. I’m trying to get things done.”

Paul said his “purpose was to condense time.” That’s exactly what he got; A vote to repeal hemp. However, senators blocked this. Without significant protests from Democrats, the Senate approved the bill on Monday without deep delays.

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So they didn’t really drag things out. Truth be told, most MPs were done with the shutdown and wanted to end it as soon as possible, regardless of their politics.

But they will have another opportunity when the next round of funding closes on January 30.